Amcor (AMC)

Citi has affirmed its “buy" recommendation and $7.50 target price on
Amcor
following a “strong set" of full-year 2011 numbers, including an underlying net profit of $579 million, which beat market expectations by a modest margin.

The broker reckons Amcor is ahead of schedule in integrating the Alcan businesses it acquired last year. In 2011, it had already achieved $142 million in synergies and Citi reckons the potential for synergies lies above its guidance range of between $200 million and $250 million by 2012.

The company’s $150 million share buyback will likely be 1 per cent accretive to earnings per share, the broker says, and could foreshadow further buybacks worth up to $1.5 billion over the next three years.